OUR CORRESPONDENT LAYYAH Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday launched the Rs15 billion Ehsaas Amdan Programme in Layyah, which according to his government will increase the livelihoods of the weakest sector of society. Addressing the audience on the occasion, the premier thanked his aide Sania Nishtar for her efforts in making this project a reality. Referring to the Ehsaas Kafalat Programme launched in January, the premier said that women are given Rs2,000 each month so that “they can take care of their food by themselves”. “Under the [Ehsaas Amdan] Programme, each woman will be given one cow, one buffalo and three goats so she can run her own home. “Every month 80,000 people will be given loans and 50,000 students from the downtrodden section of society will be awarded scholarships every year,” the premier added. Talking about some of the measures his government has taken since coming into power, the premier said health cards had been made available to those who were unable to afford healthcare. “We want the system to be equal for the rich and the poor,” he said, adding that this equality will be brought in all aspects of governance. Talking about police reforms in the country, the PM said: “Till now the common man was not secure but I want to congratulate the new IG Shoaib Dastagir because today in Punjab I have told him to go after the big gangsters.” He added that the government is also making efforts to bring a uniform syllabus throughout the country and reform the government education system. “Government schoolteachers who do not come to the schools will be fired and teachers willing to teach will be hired in their place.” The PM concluded on a positive note and said that “Pakistan is out of difficult times … there are challenges ahead but the country is on the right path”. “You will hear more good news in the coming days,” PM Imran added. Under the Rs15 billion programme, people living below the poverty line will be given small assets to use for income generation and to lift themselves out of poverty. These assets include goats, cows, buffaloes, poultry, bodies of Qingqi rickshaws as well as inputs for small retail outlets and small enterprises, Radio Pakistan reported. According to Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation Sania Nishtar, the programme is being launched in 375 union councils of 23 of the poorest districts all provinces in Pakistan. In January, the prime minister had launched the Ehsaas Kafalat Programme to give a monthly stipend of Rs2,000 “to the most deserving and poorest women across the country”.
